K2 Visits UC Davis

  I was walking out of an equine reproduction lab last week, tired and a little grossed out.  We were practicing fetal manipulation and reaching your arm through a metal ring, into a large canvas/plastic sac to palpate a dead calf, is not the most joyous of experiences, no matter how practical it may be.  So I was worn out and as I crossed the street from the Gourley lab, to the large animal VMTH parking lot the Holy Spirit told me to check my phone.  I'm not the kind of person who gets a lot of phone calls in a day, so I was surprised and a bit alarmed when I saw that I had 5+ missed calls and several text messages.  This is why after a while, you stop wondering why and just do what the Holy Spirit tells you.
   I looked at the first text message and it read something like, "K2 attacked, at UC Davis."  I stopped short and instantly called my good friend Karen.  K2 and Karen entered my life about 5 years ago, when I answered an advertisement for a horse that was up for lease.  She was a big, green broke, grey Holsteiner mare, and I fell in love with her the second I saw her.  I trained her for many years and developed an awesome friendship with her mom, Karen.  I finally got a hold of Karen and discovered that they suspected K2 had been attacked by a mountain lion.  I walked over to ultrasound and looked through the window and there was that big, long-backed grey mare (now mostly white) standing in the stocks.  So I put down my bags and walked in.
   Another good friend was there with her, Siri, her trainer.  After a big hug she filled me in on what was going on.  The ultrasound looked clean, but with a lot of gas present in the cranial aspect of the hock, it was hard to tell if structures there had been affected.  The decision was made to wrap the leg, eliminate the gas, and recheck her with ultrasound in a few days.  My girl was sleeping over. 
   As soon as I knew K2 was there, any plans for the evening changed.  Whatever was going to happen, I was going to be there for it.  So we, Siri, K2's fourth year student and I, walked her over to the treatment room where the surgeon on her case wrapped her leg.
   I volunteered to hold K2 so the fourth year could help with the bandaging and any medications she might need.  I took the rope and I put my hand on her nose and as I began quietly talking to her, she looked at me and she knew me.  Her eye stayed on mine and I felt her recognition, some stress left her body, she sighed and licked her lips and we talked.  I know it sounds crazy, but we did.  If you've never experienced that connection with an animal, I urge you to find it.  There is nothing in the world like it.  You can't force it or even ask for it.  They just have to give it to you.  Its their decision and that is why it is so powerful. 
   K2 stayed at the hospital for a few more days.  The results of the follow up ultrasound were that while all her synovial structures were unaffected, she had torn a good portion of her cranial tibial muscle.  Its difficult to say what caused the tear.  It could have been the attack itself or the 5 foot jump out of her pen that she made to escape.  But the result is that she will be rehabilitating for the better portion of a year.  I was happy to see K2 go home.  She hates being in the hospital and tried to colic twice while she was there.  She will be better off recovering at home where she is happy and there are no llamas or alpacas nearby, but I will miss her and her pink nose.
   On the up side to this entire event, I met a new surgeon in the hospital. . . .